"First Man in Space - Skydiving From The Edge Of The World (Extended Version) // On August 16, 1960, Joseph Kittinger jumped his last ... all ยป Excelsior jump, doing so from an air-thin height of 102,800 feet (31,334 meters). From that nearly 20 miles altitude, his tumble toward terra firma took some 4 minutes and 36 seconds. Exceeding the speed of sound during the fall, Kittinger used a small stabilizing chute before a larger, main parachute opened in the denser atmosphere. He safely touched down in barren New Mexico desert, 13 minutes 45 seconds after he vaulted into the void.
The jump set records that still stand today, among them, the highest parachute jump, the longest freefall, and the fastest speed ever attained by a human through the atmosphere. Somewhat in contention is Kittinger's use of the small parachute for stabilization during his record-setting fall. Roger Eugene Andreyev, a Russian, is touted as holding the world's free fall record of 80,325 feet (24,483 meters), made on November 1, 1962."
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eric3579See also
http://www.videosift.com/video/First-Man-In-Space-Skydiving-from-the-edge-of-the-world
NuminarGorgeous video. This is walking on the moon level unique.
Asmosays...Can you imagine the feeling of seeing the black of space recede to eventually become a blue sky as you fall??
I'm glad there are people out there that still break our jaded view of the world with these achievements.
Thanks to JTZ, great sift.
transportersays...I wonder how they figured out where he was going to land...like what if he landed in the Pacific instead...or North Korea?
rich_magnetHe looks to be in pretty bad shape when he lands. I wonder if he suffered some serious variobaric symptoms from the fall.
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